Lee County works to fix hurricane-damaged traffic signals

Reporter: Zach Oliveri Writer: Rachel Murphy
Published: Updated:

On the roads, there are still remnants of damage from Hurricane Ian, and Lee County continues to work to return to pre-Ian conditions.

Rob Price, Deputy Director of Lee County’s Department of Transportation, said traffic signals have been a priority.

“There’s 103 intersections that we have authorization to move forward with the construction on,” he said. “We’re talking about replacing signal heads that were damaged, fixing visors that are on signal heads to help with the shade and the sun. There’s some heads that are still missing.”

The county is responsible for maintaining and managing traffic signals. There is a total of 447 signalized intersections in Lee County. In Cape Coral, there are about 35 traffic signals that cost over $5,000 in repairs, which is eligible for federal highway administration reimbursement.

Street sign in Lee County damaged by Hurricane Ian. CREDIT: WINK News

“We received our approval from federal highway last week for us to move forward with hiring a contractor to do the repairs for all the signals that were damaged in Lee County, that are on county and city roads,” said Price.

The county is also looking ahead at possible ideas to make traffic signals more resilient. One of those ideas is horizontal traffic signals. Price stated that would make the signals more aerodynamic.

“It’s potentially safer,” Price said. “Obviously, if you don’t have signal heads that are getting damaged it’s safer.”

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